Letters to the editor of a newspaper is often one of the most popular places for readers. They love to be able to express their opinions and read the opinions of others. It is a place for people to vent and offer alternative views. But without a proper policy, your letter to the editor section can quickly degenerate to a personal agenda forum for one or two people.
Generally, you should print every letter to the editor you receive, as long as it isn’t libelous and follows your paper’s guidelines. That means at times you will be printing letters from people who may have an off-the-wall opinion. “There IS life on Mars,” or “The government is spying on me while I take a shower in my home.” These are extreme examples, but you get the idea.
Letters to the editor CAN get the newspaper in trouble so you want to make sure these items are opinion and not facts. You also want to be careful about double checking facts mentioned in the letter. You should be especially careful of letters that begin, “The following is my opinion….” Usually, this means the letter writer has had an attorney review the letter and the attorney has told them they can’t get in trouble for opinions, but can be sued for false facts. But in the body of the “opinion letter” they mention a lot of facts. There is a clear difference between facts and opinions. Make sure the letter writers aren’t trying to pass facts off as opinions.
Basic policies you may want to consider include:
- Set word count limits (usually between 350-500 words)
- All letters to the editor must be signed.
- Photocopied or faxed letters will not be accepted until original signature is on file with paper.
- All letters must include an address and phone number of the author for reference purposes (not to be published).
- Require a parent’s signature for any letter writer younger than 18.
- Don’t allow graphs, photos or other illustrations to accompany letters.
- Letters must be signed by original author. If the author asks to not be identified because of the nature of the letter, you still need to know (for record purposes) who wrote the letter. You will probably want to develop a policy about when you will print anonymous letters, or handle it on a case by case basis.
- Reserve the right to edit all letters.
- Set a deadline for letters to the editor and don’t make any exceptions.
- Reserve the right to limit the number of letters published.
- You may want to limit the number of letters to the editor from one person based on either a time period or subject matter.
The last item is rather controversial, but it may be necessary. At one newspaper where I worked, one particular person developed an entire media campaign using our letters to the editor forum as a key part of his campaign. He even went so far as to include graphs and tables he wanted printed with his letters. His letters were more of a one-sided news article or advertisement than an opinion letter. By having a policy in place, you can keep your paper from being used in this manner.
In addition to the basic rules you may want to add special rules for certain times of the year, such as election time. Especially with a weekly newspaper, you shouldn’t print a derogatory letter about a candidate the issue right before an election because it doesn’t give the candidate time to defend themselves. For elections, you may want to decide to set the following policies:
- Set a deadline two issues before elections for letters regarding candidates or other issues on a ballot.
- Limit letters published right before an election to be positive in nature, along with candidate rebuttals to any negative comments in order to promote fairness.
When printing letters to the editor, you want to make sure the person listed as the author is indeed the author. Be particularly careful about letters where a number of people have signed. Often these signatures may be given for petitions, but the people signing never intended for them to be published in the newspaper. Make sure you have original signatures and phone numbers of everyone who signs the letter.
